


Single rider

by Startanewdream



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29097330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Startanewdream/pseuds/Startanewdream
Summary: Singles will be paired.Or James needs a partner ride for a roller coaster.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57





	Single rider

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a Tumblr post that was to fun to miss.

James can't believe he was betrayed by Peter Pettigrew.

They have known each other since they were eleven. They have a group together. They have shared secrets.

And still, Peter has left him alone with Sirius and Remus.

It's not that James is bothered by them. He is happy his two friends have finally decided to stop being idiots and realized they have feelings for each other. He just wishes he isn't feeling like a third wheel in the event he is most excited to since  _ forever  _ \- oh, well, in the least ten months at least.

Ever since it was announced the reopening of Hogwarts Amusement Park of Witchcraft and Wizardry, James is dreaming of going there. His father always spoke of how he loved the Park before it was closed forty years ago.

James had collected all news about the renovation and the new rides and he had memorized the map of the Park, just by studying the information available at their website.

He knows exactly which rides are featured in the Park and he already loves, even before going there, the Gryffindor Zone, where the most radical rides are located. James has studied the map enough to trace the exact perfect route to the Lion Roar Thrill Ride, the Park's greatest and most exciting roller coaster. 

Pure steel. Ten inversions. Drop length of 450 feet. Reaches 130 miles per hour.

Just the thought of it gives goosebumps to James. It is everything James could wish for in a roller coaster.

He had planned carefully, had bought the tickets in advance and had calculated how early they had to leave home for there, to guarantee they would be one of the first in the line for the Lion Roar.

What he hadn't planned was that Peter would have a panic attack at the idea of going on a thrill ride and that Sirius and Remus would be much more interested in the Amortentia Tunnel than going in what is already one of the world's best roller coasters.

But since James can never be accused of being a bad friend, he uses all his knowledge of the Park to take them to Slytherin Zone, where the water rides are, before running to Gryffindor Zone.

He lets out a cry when he sees the already huge queue for the attraction, but there is nothing he can do now except getting in line with everyone else. The expectation time is fifty minutes in the line. That’s fine; he already waited for months. 

It’s hot and there isn’t much shadow in the line, but James doesn’t let this damper his mood. He hears the delighted cries of the people who are in the ride and lets this encourage him. Just thirty minutes more. Then fifteen. He already sees the end of the line - the portraits where people enter to board the cars.

Then, finally, it’s his turn. The attendant calls for the next two persons and James confidently takes a step to pass through the portrait.

‘Hey, hey’, the attendant - a  _ Prefect  _ according to the terms used in the park - stops him, looking at him with a frown. ‘Where is your pair?’

James blinks.

‘What?’

‘Your pair. This is a ride for couples’, the Prefect notes tediously and points to a board right next to them.

_ All cars must have two people.  _

James stares, dumbfounded, because there was never any warning on their website, in any of the reviews he read, on anywhere.

The Prefect calls two friends in the line behind James, closing that turn, and that wakes him.

‘So - I can’t go?’

The Prefect raises his eyebrows and points to the next line of the board.

_ Singles will be paired _ .

‘Just wait here, in one or two minutes we will find you a match’.

That seems a little bit offensive, but he won’t complain.

‘Can I go in the first car?’ he asks instead, and the Prefect nods distractedly.

It shouldn’t be too difficult, James thinks. There are many groups with an odd number of members. Parents with a single kid. Someone else who was also left by his friends. It takes more than three minutes, however, and James is already considering an app for matching people with similar interests in thrill rides - maybe he can convince Remus to help him with the codes -

‘Stay here, you will go in a moment with him’.

James blinks and he returns to the Earth just in time to see a girl smiling nervously as she walks to his side. He glances at her, for the first time forgetting about the ride. It’s a gorgeous girl, the same age as him, with dark red hair that she keeps in a braid, though he sees strands of hair escaping and flying with the light breeze; James feels a strange urge to take the hair out of her face. Then he sees her eyes.

Bright green eyes.

‘Hi’, the girl is saying to him, her voice distracted, not really looking at him.

He resists the urge to sigh.

‘Hi’, he answers, late, but he thinks she didn’t hear him because the Prefect calls them at the same time.

‘Through the Fat Lady portrait’, he says, pointing to the first portrait.

Oh, yes, that’s why he is there. For the Lion Roar.

Not to fall in love at first sight with a girl that he will share a ride for two minutes and eleven seconds.

The girl is glancing at him, expecting, and James grins.

'You first', he says, trying to sound nice, but the girl just sighs. James sees her hands are shaking.

That makes him frown. He remembers Peter's pale face that morning, when he refused to go to the amusement park with them, and James recognizes the fear in that girl's eyes.

But she walks with her head high through the portrait and he follows her, still stealing glances in her direction. She shudders before entering the car and she flinches when the safety bar is lowered, but she doesn't say anything, doesn't look like she will give up.

He feels admiration growing inside him. James never feared any ride, enjoying every radical sport he could try just for the adrenaline rush; but the redhead by his side - his partner for the ride - has a determined expression on her face, despite the fact her knuckles are white, her hands gripping tightly the bars.

'It is safe', he hears himself saying before he can control herself. The girl turns her head to him as much as the bars allow her.

'What?'

'This ride. It’s safe. There is no danger'.

'I know', she replies, looking confused. 'There was never an accident at Hogwarts Amusement Park before'.

'Oh. Sorry, I just thought -'

The girl gives him a sly smile.

'I look that nervous?'

'Well -', he begins, unsure of what to say, but she flinches once more when the car starts to move. Then she blushes despite her white face.

'I am a bit afraid of heights', she admits, looking rather nervously at the long tracks ahead, rising in the direction of the blue sky.

'And you came to one of the world's tallest roller coasters?'

'Yes'.

'But - why?'

She chuckles slightly.

'Because I  _ can. _ When I was younger my sister laughed that I wasn't tall enough for the rides. So here I am. In every ride there is'.

James decides he will have to propose to that girl someday.

'I am James!', he cries, as the wind grows stronger around them.

'Lily!', she screams back, and she sees her looking rather worriedly at how high they are now.

'It will be fine', he promises, and she looks at him, their eyes locking. After a second, she gives a tiny nod, a smile lifting up her face and she looks calm for the first time since he met her.

He smiles back, wondering if somehow he can grab her hand - just for a little more encouragement, of course -

When they drop.

* * *

Two minutes and eleven seconds later, the roller coaster is coming to a stop, and the safety bars are lifted.

'That was amazing!', Lily says, and though her legs are still shaking, there is a wild excited grin in her face.

'Fantastic!', James agrees, beaming too, still feeling the lingering effects of the thrill of the ride - that rush of adrenaline pumping through his vein, his muscles still tightened and his heart beating faster than normal.

Then he looks at his partner ride, her face flushed and vivid, and he thinks his heart won't slow down any time soon.

'So', he begins, as they start to descend the stairs, and hopes he sounds nonchalant. 'You are here alone?'

'Yeah, I got the ticket for today on a contest, and none of my friends could buy it. Tickets sold out one month in advance!'.

'I stayed until two in the morning to buy them', James admits. She seems amused.

'Adrenaline junkie, are you?', teases Lily and James flushes.

'I like the thrill'.

'You are in the right place then', she notes, glancing around to the other rides around them in Gryffindor Zone.

'And you?'

'I enjoy facing challenges', she shrugs like it's nothing. 'Trying to look brave'.

'You are brave', he notes, not minding to show his appreciation.

She laughs.

'Did you see me trembling there? I bit all my nails in the line'.

'But you went. That's what Gryffindor Zone is about'. He picks his park map to show her the slogan.  _ 'Gryffindor, where dwells the brave at heart'. _

Lily gives him a radiant smile and James thinks her smile makes him feel more exhilarated than any roller coaster could ever make.

They enter together in the store at the end of the ride and, as James glances around the red and gold merchandising, Lily goes straight to the photo booth.

'Number 394, please', she asks the attendant. Then she turns to James with a teasing smile on her lips. 'Want a copy of our moment, partner?'

_ Their moment _ .

James nods.

'So, why are you single?', she asks, and for a moment James wonders how she knows his relationship status before realising what she meant.

'My friends ditched me for a love ride'.

'Love tunnels? They are so  _ dull’ _ , she says, in a mocking voice that makes him chuckle.

'There is not a single fall in them', James agrees as if that is scandalous.

'Maybe that's why couples snog there. Pure boredom'.

He nods, even as it comes to him that maybe love rides don't sound so boring with the right partner.

The attendant returns with their photos and James opens the folder to see a picture of him and Lily, right after the first fall - they are both looking exhilarated and dizzy, but his eyes concentrate on Lily. She is beaming, her green eyes sparkling even in the photograph, her face flushed from the thrill.

And he sees that, at some point during that fall, their hands were really close, almost touching.

'I guess I will see you around?', he hears Lily asking him, and there is a curious expression in her face.

Looking at her, James feels like he is back at the top of the roller coaster, right before the 450 feet drop and the whooping feeling it causes.

And he always welcomed that feeling.

'We could go together if you like', he says, his heart beating fast and he knows it’s the adrenaline.

She bits her lips for a tiny second before smiling.

'Partner ride?'

'Maybe lunch partner too? I know where all the best food trucks are, I promise you'.

'I may grab your hand', she warns, playfully. 'You know, just for support'.

'I would very much enjoy it. Being your support, I mean'.

He doesn't think he fooled her. Her eyes are shining.

'Then let's go. I heard the Firebolt Free Fall is the best drop ride in the country'.

And she offers him her hand.

The next photo they buy, James hopes, they can be holding hands.

And the Amortentia Tunnel doesn't sound so boring anymore.


End file.
